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 SetCursor

The SetCursor function sets the cursor shape.

    HCURSOR SetCursor(
        HCURSOR hCursor   // handle to cursor
    );

Parameters

• hCursor
  [in] Handle to the cursor. The cursor must have been created by the CreateCursor function or loaded by the LoadCursor or LoadImage function. If this parameter is NULL, the cursor is removed from the screen. Windows 95: The width and height of the cursor must be the values returned by the GetSystemMetrics function for SM_CXCURSOR and SM_CYCURSOR. In addition, either the cursor bit depth must match the bit depth of the display or the cursor must be monochrome.

Return Values

The return value is the handle to the previous cursor, if there was one.

If there was no previous cursor, the return value is NULL.

Remarks

The cursor is set only if the new cursor is different from the previous cursor; otherwise, the function returns immediately.

The cursor is a shared resource. A window should set the cursor shape only when the cursor is in its client area or when the window is capturing mouse input. In systems without a mouse, the window should restore the previous cursor before the cursor leaves the client area or before it relinquishes control to another window.

If your application must set the cursor while it is in a window, make sure the class cursor for the specified window's class is set to NULL. If the class cursor is not NULL, the system restores the class cursor each time the mouse is moved.

The cursor is not shown on the screen if the internal cursor display count is less than zero. This occurs if the application uses the ShowCursor function to hide the cursor more times than to show the cursor.

For an example, see Displaying a Cursor.

Requirements

• Windows NT/2000 or later: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later.
• Windows 95/98/Me: Requires Windows 95 or later.
• Header: Declared in Winuser.h; include Windows.h.
• Library: Use User32.lib.

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Notebook exported on Monday, 7 July 2008, 18:56:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time